trollol wrote:My parents raised two kids on an income of just below 45k in Bellevue, Washington. We had a nice, 4 bedroom house in the 98005 zip code. It's completely possible to raise a family in a high cost-of-living city and still provide great childhood memories. Folks posting hyperbole like the inability to fathom a family existence under 150k HII are out of touch with reality. Realize that the majority of Americans survive, thrive, and raise very happy families with incomes well below the 100k mark.

If you're having problems staying happy above that six-figure line, you really should reconsider your spending habits.

Did they pay for college? Are they able to travel? Can they retire?

Where? And what house? We are looking for a SFH ... Are you in one or a condo or TH?

20:00 here. SFH in a close-in MoCo suburb east of Rock Creek Park.

Anonymous wrote:

I think that a family of 4 living on less than $100k is do-able but you cannot live inside the beltway unless you rent a really cheap house/ condo or do not have a mortgage.

I am just posting from a house buying perspective and we are looking inside the beltway with a HHI of $165k and I am scared for the mortgage!

Uh, we are a family of 3 living inside the beltway (MoCo, no less) with a mortgage on a HHI of $87k. (So, almost exactly half your HHI.) Adjust your expectations. Or spending. Or both.

Where? And what house? We are looking for a SFH ... Are you in one or a condo or TH?

We are a family of six with a HHI of $102k'ish. We rent in Upper Marlboro, MD. We have no emergency savings and that's something I really need to work on...I'm just terrible at saving. No college funds for my kids, but I expect them to contribute towards their own education through scholarships and grants.

Goal is to increase income in next 5 years (would love to hit $150-200k), but if it doesn't happen, it's all good.

trollol wrote:My parents raised two kids on an income of just below 45k in Bellevue, Washington. We had a nice, 4 bedroom house in the 98005 zip code. It's completely possible to raise a family in a high cost-of-living city and still provide great childhood memories. Folks posting hyperbole like the inability to fathom a family existence under 150k HII are out of touch with reality. Realize that the majority of Americans survive, thrive, and raise very happy families with incomes well below the 100k mark.

If you're having problems staying happy above that six-figure line, you really should reconsider your spending habits.

I wouldn't describe Seattle as a high cost of living city... not today and certainly not a generation ago!!

I think that a family of 4 living on less than $100k is do-able but you cannot live inside the beltway unless you rent a really cheap house/ condo or do not have a mortgage.

I am just posting from a house buying perspective and we are looking inside the beltway with a HHI of $165k and I am scared for the mortgage!

Uh, we are a family of 3 living inside the beltway (MoCo, no less) with a mortgage on a HHI of $87k. (So, almost exactly half your HHI.) Adjust your expectations. Or spending. Or both.

Hey cultural heritage PP- I work in cultural resource management too. Don't you know we're supposed to be doing it for the love of it? I also have a specialized advanced degree and work for the "greater good" but there are days when I want to just say "pave over it" for all that anyone else cares.

My first ever "real" job paid $15k a year, but I make well over ten times that now. I don't seem to have any more money lying around now than I did then. I'm male, single, no kids or alimony to pay, so I don't really know what my excuse is.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that a family of 4 living on less than $100k is do-able but you cannot live inside the beltway unless you rent a really cheap house/ condo or do not have a mortgage.

I am just posting from a house buying perspective and we are looking inside the beltway with a HHI of $165k and I am scared for the mortgage!

Doing it. Bought in 20910 in 2003 with <20% down. No private school for the kids (we're in the BCC cluster), old cars, driving vacations where we can stay with friends/family, etc.

PP here. I thought 20910 would be by Einstein and the silver spring schools. What neighborhood are you in? Purely just asking because we are house hunting now and getting a sense of each neighborhood helps.

We're in Rosemary Hills which is pretty much the furthest east you can go and still be in the BCC cluster. When we bought in 2003 we were competing against other bidders as prices jumped monthly. Our neighborhood is 'hot' again with few listings. I guess I'm an old timer: "Today we couldn't afford to buy our own house"

Our neighborhood realtor is Mynor Herrera - http://www.dreamhomesbymynor.com/

Pp here. I went to Rosemary Hills lol and was in that cluster but grew up in Kensington. Thanks for the info! Much appreciated!

My parents raised two kids on an income of just below 45k in Bellevue, Washington. We had a nice, 4 bedroom house in the 98005 zip code. It's completely possible to raise a family in a high cost-of-living city and still provide great childhood memories. Folks posting hyperbole like the inability to fathom a family existence under 150k HII are out of touch with reality. Realize that the majority of Americans survive, thrive, and raise very happy families with incomes well below the 100k mark.

If you're having problems staying happy above that six-figure line, you really should reconsider your spending habits.

TSP is the govt savings plan. It stands for Thrift SAvings Plan.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Family of 3, HHI is $105K. We rent in Alexandria, $1k a month in daycare, have students loans, credit card debt - the works. It's TIGHT but we still save (modestly) for our DS college fund and our retirement accounts. We don't have much in savings but we feel VERY lucky that we can pay our bills and even have a little fun every now and then.

It's tough but it can be done.

And to the dumba$$ who asked - yes, we are BOTH college graduates with degrees in Business.

I thought conventional wisdom was to pay off credit card debt before saving for college and retirement (or maybe you do retirement first if you have an employer match).

Yes -we contribute the bare minimum in order to get the employer match (i.e. FREE money ) Otherwise, we would definitely be throwing everything at the debt.

what is the consensus on borrowing against the 401K? it is interest you pay yourself, but less than the average returns.

General consensus is not to do it but I know people at my agency who have done it (for home repairs, emergencies) and it seems like an OK last alternate if you are years from retirement. The interest rate on a TSP loan right now is like 1.375 and I think they are fairly easy to get but you do lose out on the compounding interest AND you are repaying with after-tax money (as opposed to initial pre-tax investments).

I don't think it's the best option but at the end of the day, if you need it, you need it. We almost went this route but decided against it because for now, it's our only safety net.

Such is life.

not sure what TSP stands for. My 401K lends out at 4.5%. which is higher than market but also that is kind of good, because better return.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that a family of 4 living on less than $100k is do-able but you cannot live inside the beltway unless you rent a really cheap house/ condo or do not have a mortgage.

I am just posting from a house buying perspective and we are looking inside the beltway with a HHI of $165k and I am scared for the mortgage!

Doing it. Bought in 20910 in 2003 with <20% down. No private school for the kids (we're in the BCC cluster), old cars, driving vacations where we can stay with friends/family, etc.

PP here. I thought 20910 would be by Einstein and the silver spring schools. What neighborhood are you in? Purely just asking because we are house hunting now and getting a sense of each neighborhood helps.

We're in Rosemary Hills which is pretty much the furthest east you can go and still be in the BCC cluster. When we bought in 2003 we were competing against other bidders as prices jumped monthly. Our neighborhood is 'hot' again with few listings. I guess I'm an old timer: "Today we couldn't afford to buy our own house"

Our neighborhood realtor is Mynor Herrera - http://www.dreamhomesbymynor.com/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you all who make less than $100,000/year go to college? Or, perhaps I should ask, graduate from college?

Talk about insulting. I make under 100K and went to law school AND am a lawyer for the government. What world are you living in?

+1

Yes-- PP should understand that a lot of people with advanced degrees earn far less than 100k, especially when the organizations they work with and for are non-profits. My Dh earns a little over 100K, which allows us to live centrally in a high-demand District neighborhood in a condo we bought in 2005. I, on the other hand, work in the intrinsically rewarding field of cultural heritage management, which pays peanuts even to people with advanced degrees whose skills are specialized. I think you lot would be surprised to hear just how little. It needs to be a labor of love, because the compensation is minimal, and there are many more people eager to do it than there are paid positions available.

This is certainly a phenomenon I remember from my own childhood when my father, the academic, provided a much humbler life for his family than other families I knew headed by lawyers and... I don't know... designers of mechanized prosthetic limbs (just thinking of a childhood friend with a fancier house whose dad was not a lawyer. I guess in those days, though, the doctors also still made enough to set them apart from other professionals with advanced degrees). But the pay chasm between professions is much wider nowadays. It's even easier to be a poorly compensated but highly educated professional if you're not in a field that's part of the general business of generating wealth.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Family of 3, HHI is $105K. We rent in Alexandria, $1k a month in daycare, have students loans, credit card debt - the works. It's TIGHT but we still save (modestly) for our DS college fund and our retirement accounts. We don't have much in savings but we feel VERY lucky that we can pay our bills and even have a little fun every now and then.

It's tough but it can be done.

And to the dumba$$ who asked - yes, we are BOTH college graduates with degrees in Business.

I thought conventional wisdom was to pay off credit card debt before saving for college and retirement (or maybe you do retirement first if you have an employer match).

Yes -we contribute the bare minimum in order to get the employer match (i.e. FREE money ) Otherwise, we would definitely be throwing everything at the debt.

what is the consensus on borrowing against the 401K? it is interest you pay yourself, but less than the average returns.

General consensus is not to do it but I know people at my agency who have done it (for home repairs, emergencies) and it seems like an OK last alternate if you are years from retirement. The interest rate on a TSP loan right now is like 1.375 and I think they are fairly easy to get but you do lose out on the compounding interest AND you are repaying with after-tax money (as opposed to initial pre-tax investments).

I don't think it's the best option but at the end of the day, if you need it, you need it. We almost went this route but decided against it because for now, it's our only safety net.

Such is life.